Fool's Paradise
by Althea SaDiablo
Summary: Fortune is inscrutable and plays her game with all men, even emperors. It's said she favors the bold, but who can tell one way or the other? You'd have better luck predicting the weather. Today's forecast: rain, rain, and more rain.


**Author's Note:** I . . . actually wrote this quite a while ago, and found it again while going through the archives on the livejoural saiunkoku_fic community. And it occurred to me that it was never posted here, so I thought I might as well. There's never enough OTP in this world, in any case . . . and yes, my OTP is Ryuuki/Shuurei all the way. Anyway, this was written for the "crack fic" challenge, and my prompt was "natural disaster." Which you would think would lead to angst and drama . . . but since this is me, and my muse is above all things perverse, it led to humor and silliness.

And for some reason ff dot net is refusing to put in the line breaker between my author's note and the actual story. It's annoying glitches like that that keep me from posting stuff here, really. grrrr. Well, I'll have to make do with something else. Sorry about the improvised divider, everyone . . .

**oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo ****oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo oXo ****oXo oXo oXo**

Ryuuki was very excited about the upcoming trip, and had been for some weeks. It had been a long time since his last excursion outside the palace, and he had almost forgotten how it felt to be free of its perpetually surrounding walls. It would be refreshing to see a world free of boundaries, one where the sky stretched from horizon to horizon rather than from gate to gate. Although the pressures of ruling would still follow him, and his errand was both partially official and worrisomely urgent, the change of scenery would be very pleasant.

The absence of certain nagging officials would be even more pleasant.

Even more than that, though, and more than the possible success of his errand, and more than getting to see the extent of the vast country he ruled but had never really explored-- the thing that had almost made him pass out from joy when he heard it-- _Shuurei was coming_. Ever since he had learned that most vital of facts all other intelligent thought regarding the trip had gone right out of his head, and it felt like the entire world was colored over with a haze of joy. Officials came to him to discuss the details of the journey, but he couldn't pay attention to them. As soon as they mentioned the trip they disappeared into the haze, and he nodded vaguely along to whatever they were saying without any of it registering.

Kouyuu was yelling at him on an hourly basis, but it was just too hard to pay attention to what he was saying. All Ryuuki could think about was Shuurei. This trip was the opportunity he had been waiting for. Finally, finally he would be able to spend as much time as he wanted with her. Everything they never had time for-- well, there would be plenty while they were traveling. He wanted to show her what he had learned, and maybe in the evenings they could sit and sew together. Or they could read together, or take walks, or she could teach him how to cook. She would be there the entire time-- they could eat breakfast together, and lunch and dinner too, they could drink tea and talk, just talk, for as long as they wanted, and--

His imagination supplied a thousand thousand possibilities, all of them wonderful.

The day of departure was a bright, sunny one, but not nearly as bright as Ryuuki's mood. He was humming happily to himself as Kouyuu joined him for the walk to the courtyard where the horses would be waiting. His companion, on the other hand, wasn't nearly so cheerful-- in fact his behavior could better be described as surly. And while Kouyuu was justly famous for his touchiness, normally Ryuuki's good moods could at least prod him to a hidden, reluctant smile. Today, however, Ryuuki's cheer just seemed to make him more annoyed. It puzzled Ryuuki, because who could possibly be unhappy on such a wonderful day? It was inconceivable. Even the birds from the palace gardens seemed to be singing a joyous paean to see him off as he turned the corner into the proper courtyard.

He came to an abrupt halt on the edge of a chaotic mess of frenzied activity. Instead of the small group of horses he had expected, and maybe a single wagon for supplies and two or three passengers, he saw dozens of wagons and carriages, and what amounted to an entire herd of riding and pack horses, all stamping and whinnying. Scurrying amongst them was a horde of robed functionaries and servants, busily attending to any of a thousand various and unknowable tasks. Adding to the chaos, richly dressed officials and courtiers were either getting underfoot of the servants or attempting to somehow direct the flow of traffic (with the result being rather the opposite of the intention). And everywhere noise foamed and crashed against the surrounding walls and reverberated through the air, a cacophony of competing voices and animal sounds, groaning carts and clanking tack and weapons.

Ryuuki stared at the mess of men, baggage, and animals. "What is this?"

"It's Your Majesty's official escort," Kouyuu growled, scowling.

"Our escort? What do we need an escort for?" Ryuuki stepped back quickly to avoid a footman rushing by with a load of lacquered boxes stacked so high it towered over his head. He felt as if something vast and terrible was looming over him, much like the boxes over the head of the footman.

"Surely Your Majesty didn't expect to make such a journey without one," Kouyuu grated. "And I think it's a little much to act surprised about it now."

"There are so many ," Ryuuki tried to estimate the number of people in the large courtyard and quickly gave up. "Who approved all of this, anyway?"

Kouyuu's last frayed nerve snapped. "You did!" he shouted furiously. "It was just your guards and a few servants at the beginning, but when the nobles and officials started coming to you with requests, you granted every one-- don't tell me you don't remember!"

The looming thing wasn't looming anymore: it was rumbling, tipping forward, starting to fall. "But we don't!" Ryuuki tried to keep the wail out of his voice. "When did we do that?"

"You've _been_ doing it since the beginning! And who do you think had to organize it all? Me, that's who! On top of everything else! I haven't slept for a _week_!"

Now Ryuuki could see that Kouyuu's eyes were watery and bloodshot, underlain by deep shadows. But much more distressing thoughts immediately overrode that information. "But this is terrible!" he cried. "We wanted to keep the party as small as possible so that we could-- so that--"

"I suppose," Kouyuu said in a frighteningly soft, calm voice, "that the reason Your Majesty has been rather more distracted and moronic than usual for the past weeks . . . has something to do with this trip?"

"We were finally going to get to spend time with Shuurei!" Ryuuki wailed as the true magnitude of his misfortune came crashing down on him.

"You-- you were-- you--" Kouyuu seemed to have lost his ability to speak, futilely opening and closing his hands as if it would somehow help. Finally he threw them into the air with an incoherent cry of extreme frustration and went stomping off to try to deal with the mess in the courtyard. Ryuuki was left with a terrible sinking feeling in his stomach as all his cherished dreams fell to pieces-- a feeling that only intensified as a handful of courtiers noticed him and came rushing over, inexorable and building like a wave.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The trip he'd so looked forward to had become a nightmare, Ryuuki concluded. The extensive train of baggage and supplies, not to mention servants, attendants, and their masters, moved at a pace comparable to a drunk snail's. His view of the scenery was severely curtailed by the carriage his various officials had insisted was his due, rather than the horse he had been looking forward to. Not that there was much to see, since it had begun raining barely an hour after the procession finally left the capital and hadn't let up since.

By itself that wouldn't have been enough to dampen his spirits, except he was never alone for more than a moment at a time, and the company was far from desirable. All the courtiers and officials that had joined the party had done so for one reason and one reason only: to have access to the Emperor. And so Ryuuki found himself surrounded by various attention-seekers all trying to say their piece now that they had a chance to talk to him. The more obsequious were putting everything they had into their overtures, trying to befriend him and gain his favor. Even in his carriage he wasn't safe, because somehow at least one or two would manage to slip in with him as well. And then proceed to ramble on about completely irrelevant subjects Ryuuki couldn't care less about. If he had been back at the palace he would have just made some excuse to get away and hidden in the archives until whichever frustrated court member it was that was after him gave up and went away, but he couldn't do that now since there was nowhere to hide.

But the worst thing by far was the fact that even though Shuurei was indeed a part of the caravan, he'd seen her only twice since they'd started out. There were so many people strung out in the long, guarded baggage train, or bustling around the camp at night, or clogging the corridors and courtyards of the various unlucky host-lord's residences, that it was nearly impossible to find her. Of course he couldn't go asking around after her, even if they were away from the palace-- there was no one he could safely ask.

The first time he had seen Shuurei she'd been sitting on the tail gate of one of the wagons with her feet dangling over the edge, deep in conversation with someone who looked to be one of the cooks for the escort. Ryuuki had somehow managed to escape the carriage and get ahold of a horse for an afternoon's respite. He wasn't so lucky when it came to escaping undesired company, though. And so he had been riding back with several inconsequential lordlings to check the state of the overly extensive marching line, and trying to make sense of their continuous yammering was giving him a headache.

When he saw Shuurei, though, it was as if the sun had come out of the perpetual clouds (although it hadn't). He slowed his horse as much as he could as they passed, hoping desperately that she would look up and see him. At least then he could at least meet her eyes and convey some of his feelings that way-- but she didn't, and all too soon he'd passed her. He couldn't turn, couldn't look behind, although his back prickled urgently with the sense of her presence falling away from him.

The second time had been even worse; Shuurei was serving as clerk for one of the higher officials in her department, and he couldn't even look at her. In fact, he had to actually _pay attention_ to what the man was saying since it concerned one of his own projects. And so he paid attention and spoke his answers and didn't watch her note down his words, and he accepted the documents that she gave the official to give him and that was the closest he'd been to touching her since-- since--

And then the official had taken his leave and they'd both bowed themselves out, and in that last instant when he'd been able at last to look at her all he'd seen was her lowered head.

Kouyuu endured his muffled wailing over the extreme cruelty of the universe with poor grace and little sympathy. The under-secretary adamantly refused to convey impassioned verbal missives to Shuurei, even though Ryuuki pointed out that he would easily be able to remember them and was willing to give precise instructions on how they should be delivered, from tone of voice to the angle ratio between raised arms and kneeling legs. Kouyuu had finally managed to pry the skirts of his robe free of desperately clinging and tearful Emperor. "Deliver your _own_ messages! I'm going to _sleep_!"

Ryuuki didn't really pray very often, and in fact couldn't remember the last time he had (when had the last pay-respect-to-the-various-ancestors ceremony been, anyway?). But circumstances were sufficiently trying that he thought a couple of prayers to someone were certainly in order. Was he not the Emperor, and thus the Favored Son of Heaven (as one of that day's annoying horde of nobles had expounded to him)? And he was being a good Emperor now, so why did he merit such punishment? _I just want to spend some time with Shuurei_, he prayed. _Just that-- it's not so much to ask, is it? I don't go around asking for many things, so isn't it okay? Isn't it?_

The next morning when he woke up the rain was pouring down in buckets, but it did nothing to deter the lineup of six nobles and ten officials outside the entrance to his increasingly damp tent.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ryuuki stared gloomily out his dripping tent flap. Whoever had set up his tent had thoughtfully done so in such a place as to afford an incredible view over the valley below-- when the valley wasn't covered in thick, dark clouds like it currently was. All he was getting out of the prime location was a stiff, cold breeze that came from below and kept driving water directly in his face. But the prospect of closing the tent flap and retreating back into the dark, claustrophobic misery was completely unbearable. Another day passed-- he pulled up his mental calendar and crossed it off with a sigh, counted again the number of days they'd traveled and the number still to go. Was it really possible for it to rain steadily for so long? He'd never realized there was so much water in the world until it had all tried to pour down his neck.

Kouyuu stomped-- or rather squelched-- into the other end of his tent, water dripping off his bangs. "Come to the horse lines tomorrow morning. Early."

"How early?" Ryuuki couldn't even summon up enough energy to be curious about why-- it felt like every spark in him had been extinguished by the continuous rain.

"Early." Kouyuu squelched back out again with sodden dignity. Ryuuki sighed and closed the tent flap. He felt guilty for causing Kouyuu so much trouble by agreeing to the massive escort he hadn't even wanted, and he knew that Kouyuu wasn't enjoying the trip any more than he was. There just didn't seem to be anything he could do about it, any more than he could stop the rain falling from the sky.

The rain had at least slowed down somewhat by the next morning, enough so that it could be considered a heavy drizzle rather than the sort of rain that soaked you not just from top to bottom but from bottom to top. That wasn't the same as no rain at all, though, but Ryuuki dragged himself out of bed early anyway, largely on the strength of his guilt. At least there was no one waiting to speak to him at this hour, and save for traces of activity here and there about the camp all was quiet. Nobles and courtiers were not known for their propensity towards early hours, not unless they were viewing them from the wrong side. Even the horse lines under the dripping trees were peaceful, the animals eyeing him with brown disinterest as he walked past them.

He found Kouyuu at the far end of the tether lines, holding the reins of two saddled horses and not looking quite as grumpy as he had for the majority of the trip. "Good morning, Kouyuu," Ryuuki tried to be at least a little cheerful for the sake of his beleaguered friend. "Are we going for a ride?"

Kouyuu snorted. "_We're_ not going for a ride."

"Ah, you're finally here! We've been waiting!"

Ryuuki's heart stopped at the sound of that light and longed-for voice, and came roaring back to work at a headlong pace when a dark, familiar head poked out from between the two horses. ". . .Shuurei?"

"Who else?"

Who else indeed. There was no mistaking the mildly acerbic tone to her voice, the way her hands rested on her hips, her slight annoyance at being kept waiting. Did he only imagine the amused fondness in her eyes when she looked at him? She was practically dressed with her hair up in its customary out-of-the-way loops, but he was sure she'd never been more beautiful. He had to blink hard in order to see her clearly, and hadn't it been cloudy a moment before?

He noticed then the way she was leaning against the horse's shoulder. "What happened to your leg?"

She sighed. "That _would_ be the first thing you'd say. I slipped on some loose rocks the other day, that's all. It's only a sprain."

"That's why you two are riding, not walking," Kouyuu attempted to growl.

The world was a beautiful, perfect place, and apparently the sun had finally put in an appearance because everything Ryuuki saw was hazed in golden light. Kouyuu was gilded in a halo of pale blue, and even the mud spattering the hanging hem of his robe was without a doubt further evidence of the incredibly gentle and generous nature that shone from his eyes. Gratitude and adoration for the kindness of his wonderful friend overcame Ryuuki for a moment. "_Kouyuu!_"

"Look, just get on the horse already! Do you think I'm standing here for my health?! If anyone should happen to come by, you're going to end up going on a ride with the entire camp, so get going!"

That jolted Ryuuki into immediate action. Shuurei had already turned to one of the horses and was looking dubiously at the saddle on its back. She made a small 'eep' of surprise when Ryuuki lifted her from behind, but quickly regained her bearings and slung her leg over the horse's back. She was blushing faintly when he handed her the reins.

"Thank you," she muttered quickly, and Ryuuki was just about to slide back into his delighted haze when Kouyuu poked him in the ribs and gave him the bridle of his own mount. He quickly swung himself up, determined not to waste a single moment of his precious time with Shuurei.

"It'll be another hour or so before anyone starts moving," Kouyuu said. "As long as you're back before it's time for breakfast it should be fine. Don't go too far, okay?"

"I have to attend one of the senior officials today," Shuurei said. "We won't be gone too long, right, Ryuuki?"

He nodded, too happy over his unbelievable luck to be concerned that his time with Shuurei would be limited. "Of course!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As the sun rose, the sky brightened. Mist that hung low among the rain-dark tree trunks diffused the light into soft gold clouds of light that drifted gently through the woods around them. The slow drops of rain fell in soft patters on the cloaking leaves, creating a gentle music with the quiet sounds of the waking forest. The path the horses followed emerged briefly from the forest to pass through an area of loose rocks, and there the mists parted like curtains to show the folds of the surrounding mountains, curled sinuously about by ribbons of pearlized cloud. And there was no one at all about other than the two of them, no human voice other than theirs. When they re-entered the trees again Ryuuki felt as if it were his forest in truth, a secret haven made just for him . . . and for Shuurei.

She told him stories of her work and the foibles of the officials she was assigned to, and he listened hungrily. Her perspective from inside the departments was so much fresher and more immediate than his, below the pandering and facades that surrounded him on all sides. She gave the bowing dolls that hung around him faces and personalities and feelings, filled them with the life he never got to see. The trailing caravan of baggage and attendants became a lively and fascinating thing rather than a ponderous burden weighing him down. He loved it, but more than that he loved her voice telling him about it, her expressive face changing to show how she felt about what she was saying, her sympathy when he told her about the endlessly droning companions in his carriage, her laugh at some inane comment that he made.

He would have happily continued on through the woods forever, but all too soon she was squinting at the slant of light through the mist, trying to gauge the time. "We should head back," she said, awkwardly reining her horse in a tight circle. "Your attendants will be missing you, and I can't be late, I'm supposed to be assisting Under-secretary--"

Abruptly the peace of the woods was shattered by a deep and bone-jarring rumbling, one that shook the earth. Birds screamed, exploding upwards from unstable branches. The horses snorted and squealed, rearing in their panic. Shuurei clung desperately to her mount's neck, the reins torn from her hands. Without even thinking Ryuuki threw himself forward, bringing his own horse down to all fours, then rolled off. He darted around a striking hoof to grab the flapping reins and used his whole weight to pull Shuurei's horse down again. The animal gave a final experimental buck and then shoved its face hard into his chest. He grabbed the headstall and held on until the ground stopped shaking, and the crashing sound finally abated.

"Are you all right?" he asked Shuurei anxiously. She was pale and breathing hard, both hands knotted in the horse's thick mane.

"I'm fine," she said, making an effort to gather herself and find her stirrups again. "What was that? It sounded like it came from the direction of the camp . . ."

"We'd better go find out," he said grimly, picking up his own dropped reins so that he could lead both horses.

The woods were calm again, though quieter now than they had been before. Here and there falling leaves drifted through the mist, shaken loose by whatever cataclysm had disturbed the morning's peace. There was no other evidence of what had occurred until they emerged from the trees into the clear space where he and Shuurei had previously stopped to admire the view. He hadn't noticed the details of the surrounding landscape when they'd first gone through, his mind on other things, but it was completely different now. It seemed as if half the mountainside had fallen across the road and down the side of the slope in a massive pile of loose boulders and sloppy mud, completely obliterating the path they had so recently traversed.

"A landslide," Shuurei said, staring in awe. "It's huge . . . it must be because of all that rain we had. And we were only here a little while ago! We're lucky we're not under all that."

Ryuuki set one boot on a good-sized rock, but it gave way when he leaned his weight on it, bouncing down the steep incline and loosening a secondary shower of other rocks as it fell. "It's only this place here," he said. "The mountain must have been weak in this area. There were no trees growing in this area, either."

"We can't cross this," Shuurei said. "It must be half a li to the other side, and it could give way again at any moment. There's no---"

"_Heeeey!_" Kouyuu's voice came faintly across the distance, and when they looked they could see him standing on the other side of the slide, hands cupped around his mouth and a group of soldiers at his back. "_Your Majesty! Shuurei! Are you all right?_"

"_We're fine!_" Ryuuki bellowed back. "_Is anyone hurt over there?_"

"_No! No one was close!_" Kouyuu paused, and they could see him conferring with the captain of the soldiers. "_We'll try to find a way to get to you, just hang on!_"

Shuurei squinted dubiously up and down the heavily graded stretch of fallen mountainside from her higher perspective on the horse's back. "Somehow I don't think they're going to find a way through this. It's impassible here, and pretty much the same as far as I can see."

Ryuuki thought about the ease with which the stone had rolled away from his foot and bounced down the mountain. "Then there's no point in putting anyone at risk looking for a way across. If we continue on, then the caravan can double back and take a different path. "_Kouyuu!_" he shouted. "_Call the soldiers back! We'll continue along and wait for you at the next town!_"

"_I don't know how long it'll take to detour around this!_" Kouyuu had his hands cupped around his mouth in order to be heard.

"_I know the route, I looked at the map yesterday. Don't worry about it! We'll wait for you in Shinzou!_"

"_Be careful! If you stay with the trees, you should be fine-- we'll catch up to you as soon as we can!_"

Ryuuki swung back up onto his horse and gave his friend a final wave across the landslide that separated them. Kouyuu waved back in acknowledgment.

"We'll probably reach Shinzou at least two days before everyone else, maybe more depending on whether or not they find a good alternate route," Shuurei said, thinking out loud. "The nearest town is about half a day's ride from here, and we can get supplies there."

Ryuuki made the same calculations in his head. Half a day to the next town, four to Shinzou, and as much as a week for the caravan to navigate a secondary path through the mountains. They didn't have any baggage to worry about, and since it was just the two of them, there would be enough--

The sun broke though the clouds and caught on the fallen raindrops clinging to the leaves, refracting into a thousand brilliant rainbows that filled the woods with gorgeous color. The birds returning to their perches in the branches broke out into a rapturous ode, singing in five-part harmony. _Just the two of us._ A second look told him that actually, the light was coming from Shuurei, still practically discussing the acquisition of foodstuffs and the virtues of camping out as opposed to taking rooms at any inns they found along the way. _Just the two of us. For more than a week!_

". . . I heard from one of the cooks that Shinzou has some good bargains on imported goods, too, since they're far enough from the capital that the prices haven't been inflated as much," Shuurei was saying. "Maybe I can pick up something for Father while I'm there, and-- um, Ryuuki, is the horse supposed to be walking this way? I think it's limping."

Ryuuki blinked the haze from his eyes enough to see that the horse Shuurei was riding was indeed limping. They reined up, and Shuurei was too preoccupied to protest when he helped her down from the saddle. "It looks fine, I don't know what happened . . ."

Ryuuki ran his hand down the horse's leg as he had seen a groom do once, and it obligingly lifted its hoof. Once he'd done that, though, he didn't know what to do; he had no idea how a horse's foot was supposed to look or whether this horse's foot was in any way different from normal, let alone what he should do to make it normal if it wasn't. He set the hoof down again and dusted off his hands. "Um, well. Maybe it got hurt when it was jumping around during the landslide? It was fine before that."

"What are we going to do? Do you think it's all right to ride it?"

"I don't know for sure, but I don't think we should. That's okay, though, you can ride mine."

"I can't do that!" Shuurei protested. "What horse will you ride, if I'm riding on yours?"

"I'll just walk and lead the horses. Maybe we can find out what's wrong with it when we reach the town."

"That's no good at all, Ryuuki, I can't ride when you're walking," she said firmly. "You're the Emperor, for heaven's sake. If you're going to walk, I have to walk too."

"You can't walk, not with your ankle," he pointed out. "I don't mind walking, really. It's not like anyone will be around to see."

Shuurei paused for a moment. "Well, we can both ride together," she said. "I've done it before with Seiran and Ensei, it's not that bad. Not very comfortable, but then riding a horse is never really comfortable."

Ryuuki wasn't sure whether he agreed with that or not (it was better than riding in a carriage, in his opinion), but regardless there didn't seem to be anything for it. "It's worth a try," he agreed.

It was a little awkward juggling the lead of the other horse and trying to pull himself into the saddle around Shuurei, but she grabbed his shoulder to steady him and he managed somehow, settling himself in behind her. He had to reach around her to take up the reins, and Shuurei shifted, trying to get her arms out of the way. It took some adjusting, but once the horse started walking, it was easier to settle into the saddle. "This isn't so bad," Ryuuki said, once they were sorted out.

"I guess it's better when the horse isn't galloping," Shuurei allowed, shifting her head so he wouldn't knock into her with his chin. "Maybe in the next town someone'll be able to fix whatever's wrong with the horse's foot. Or we can get a new one."

Ryuuki nodded, to whatever it was she said, his mind busy re-evaluating his assessment of the riding situation. It not only wasn't so bad, it was wonderful beyond belief. And it only became more wonderful when Shuurei started to relax and unconsciously began leaning back against his chest, one of her hands resting on his arm where he held the reins. He held his breath, then realized that was silly and switched to breathing in the scent of her hair, fresh and clean despite the lingering dampness of the air. As the horse plodded through the still-dripping wood he knew himself to be in a beautiful paradise of unmatched perfection. Ryuuki wondered if perhaps that pompous noble with his "favored son of heaven" nonsense was onto something-- he couldn't imagine how anyone could possibly be happier or more blessed.


End file.
